Your Personal Energy Audit

Your Personal Energy Audit

What is your personal energy intensity level? This means, how much energy (electricity, natural gas, petroleum products, etc.) are you personally responsible for consuming each day? By identifying your personal energy intensity level, you can establish a weekly baseline, and then begin to identify ways to reduce that intensity, either at home, at work or on the road.

At home, reducing your personal energy “footprint” will save you money. At work, reducing energy consumption will help AF meet its aggressive target of 3% reduction per year. First, we need to identify a common denominator for energy. Here are some basic energy/fuel conversion factors. Let’s use British thermal units as our basis. A Btu is the amount of heat required to raise one pound of water (about a pint) one degree Fahrenheit. That’s close to the amount of heat generated by one “kitchen” match.

For your personal energy audit, let’s assume there are 3,413 Btus in a kilo-watt hour (kWh) of electricity; 1,020 Btus in a cubic foot of natural gas; and, 114,000 Btus in a gallon of regular gasoline. For transportation, calculate the average number of miles you drive each day and divide by the gas mileage of your personal vehicle.

On your job, identify what “plug loads” you personally use (electrical equipment - computers, monitors, backup power supplies, lamps, fans, etc.).

You can also examine your energy consumption at home in a similar fashion. Look at your monthly energy bill (electricity, natural gas, etc.) convert to Btus and then divide by the number of square feet of floor space in your home. This result provides your “energy intensity” ratio in Btus per square foot for your living space.

By using the Personal Energy Audit Worksheet below you can establish your personal energy “baseline”, both at home and at work.

Personal Energy Audit Worksheet - Use this form to calculate your own energy footprint

1 - In your personal vehicle: Miles driven per month ______ / ______ MPG of your personal vehicle x 114,000 (Btu) = __________ (monthly vehicle Btu)
2 - At work: Energy consuming items you are responsible for at work (number of hours per month x Watts): Computer -- (500 Watts) x _____ hours per month = _____ (Watt hours per month); Monitor(s) -- (150 Watts each) x _____ hours per month = _____ (Watt hours per month); Printer/copier -- (500 Watts) x _____ hours per month = _____ (Watt hours per month); Fan -- (100 Watts) X _____ hours per month = _____ (Watt hours per month); Lamp/lights -- (100 Watts) x _____ hours per month = _____ (Watt hours per month); Phone charger -- (3 Watts) x _____ hours per month = _____ (Watt hours per month); Sub total -- "work" Watt hours _____ / 1000 (1 kW) x 3413 Btu per kWh = __________ (monthly work energy Btu)
3 - At home: Energy analysis from your monthly utility bills: Electricity -- Number of kWh per month ______ x 3413 Btu = _______ (electricity Btus); Natural Gas -- Number of cubic feet of natural gas ______ x 1020 Btu = ________ (natural gas Btus); Sub total -- Add electricity Btus _______ + natural gas Btus _______ = _________ (monthly home energy Btus)

Add the total from each of the three areas to determine your total personal energy Btus per month = __________

Make Energy a Consideration in All We Do!